May you live in interesting times ...

It is said that this is a Chinese curse. Whether it is or is not we're certainly in the middle of 'interesting times'. I rather think that life in general is this way and we must make the best of it. At the moment that's all I can do. Hopefully I'll be lucky.

Having said that I look around and I also see the other side of the coin. Right now (2008/12/8) I'm finishing up my studies and my final is on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to the finish of the semester as it has been more interesting than most. Mid-October I suffered a bit of mental burn out due to many events (not just school). Somehow I'm catching back up with my courses and I expect to pass all of them. In the mean time I've racked up some 37 new HA topics I want to discuss. I'll stretch them out over several weeks that way I can attempt to give them some thought. Oh, I only have two more semesters and I'll graduate with a BS degree. I'm even thinking of going for a Master's degree. Maybe something to do with Home Automation. :-)

The one item that is currently most on my mind is the two mobile computer platforms: the iPhone and the Android G1. The rumor mill has the 4gig iPhone being released at WalMart for $99 (US). Possible before the end of the year. Of course I also heard the same thing just before Thanksgiving (with reference to Black Friday instead of Christmas). Google has just released an open dev. kit for the Android (SDK, dev tools, no contract, unlocked phone and SIM(???)) for $399. I would love to get my hands on both. Lets face it Apple has created a pretty slick and smooth interface. Google, on the other hand, has opened up the SDK so apps can be created for it. I've heard that G1 is has a bit of a clunkier interface. I'm sure that can be fixed. Lets face it, touch screens are in and wireless mobile computing is the future. Many of today's apps are seriously lacking. The Pantech Duo I have has the default email which stinks, a calendar which can't do something as simple as bi weekly (my wife's Palm Treo 750 doesn't have this problem) and a whole lot of other annoyances. I've added a few apps, such as GMail but even that has limited capabilities. There's got to be better. I've seen a few interesting applications on the Apple TV commercials and while they look interesting I think they are more solutions looking for a problem rather than the other way around. On the G1 side I haven't heard a whole lot. Of course I am interested in writing a few apps of my own. :-) I'll learn on the Duo (no touch screen) and work from there.

I'll post more on mobile computing later. I see it be an obvious interface to one's HA system. Especially with WiFi and 3G networking. Now back to the books!